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Plays to Replace Films at Theater 80

Published: July 20, 1994

Theater 80 St. Marks, the revival-movie house on St. Marks Place in the East Village, is to present its last films at the end of the month, with the space to be taken over by a classical-theater group.

Lawrence Otway, whose father, Howard Otway, opened the theater in 1967 as a venue for live performances, said in an open letter to the theater's patrons that the return to the theater's original purpose was a memorial to his father, who died this year.

Mr. Otway said the 260-seat space would be leased to the Pearl Theater Company, a 10-year-old classical-repertory company, which has been housed in a smaller theater on West 22d Street in Chelsea.

Theater 80's first show, "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," ran for four and a half years. The theater began showing films in 1971.

On July 31, its last day as a movie house, Theater 80 is to show a western double feature: "High Noon" and "Shane."

The Pearl's first production in its new home, "King Lear," is to begin performances on Sept. 8.